Hurricane Chronicles
by Tsukishima Aoba
Summary: Felix leaves Amherst to fulfill his dream of becoming a master of the bow and arrow.
1. One of These Nights

**Disclaimer: **I do not own MapleStory.

**One of These Nights  
**

Still holding onto the wooden stick, which was all that remained of the red popsicle he had just minutes ago, Felix waltzed back into his mushroom-shaped house.

"Did you get the apples I asked for?" The middle-aged man settled his newspaper down on the wooden dinner table and glared at Felix's almost empty hands. "Dammit, you're useless as usual… I should have known better than to ask you."

"Roger wasn't there," Felix muttered. His voice fell on deaf ears.

"Sorry to bother you, Rain, but can you go fetch some apples at the local grocery store?"

Rain popped into the kitchen, hands behind her back. "Are we making apple pie today, dad?"

"Once we have apples," his father said, chuckling. Felix furiously snapped his popsicle stick and tossed it into the garbage can on his way up to his room. Rain's father He could hear Rain trailing him, and turned around at the top of the stairs. A sad bitterness swirled in his hazel eyes.

"Roger wasn't there…"

"I believe you," Rain said, patting him on the shoulder. "Common, let's go again. If he's still out, we'll wait." He nodded, walked back down the stairs, and left the house with Rain. Right across the street was the grocery store, its front door suspiciously open. The two entered and looked around. Fruits and vegetables were on display everywhere, but the owner was nowhere to be seen. "Roger?" She called the owner's name. Silence responded.

"Let's go fetch them and wait," Felix suggested, tugging a plastic grocery bag off from one of the rolls. She nodded and the two proceeded to fill their bag with a dozen ripe Fuji apples. Rain carried the bag back to the front counter and leaned there with Felix in silence, until finally, a slender and tall figure with dark blue hair walked into the store. A broomstick was in his left hand. "Took you long enough!" Felix pointed at him in anger. Roger turned to them and blinked a few oblivious blinks.

"Ah, thanks for looking after my store. A wild orange mushroom was prancing about just outside not too long ago, so I had to chase it back to the field. I swear those things are getting bolder by the day." He walked back to the counter and slipped the five dollar bill out of Rain's hands.

"Thanks a lot, Roger." Rain lifted the bag up with one hand and waved him good-bye with another.

"No, thank you for the business. Take care, you too."

As the two walked back out, an orange mushroom that had been waiting on the roof of the grocery store jumped off; its small, bead-like eyes sparkled with mischief. Rain noticed its presence and turned around immediately, but before she could cast a spell, the giant marshmallow-like creature tackled her down. The apples rolled out of the bag and onto the pavement.

"Are you okay, Rain?" She nodded as Felix helped her back on her feet. The orange mushroom was now jumping on top of their apples, turning them into mush. Roger walked out of his store with his broomstick, ready to attack.

"It's okay, Roger. I got this." She reached her arm out, and the crescent-shaped mark on the back of her hand glowed with an orange light. With a snap, a spark of flame lit the edge of the orange mushroom's cap. It stopped, dropped, rolled, and then hopped away in fear.

* * *

Felix looked out the window of his room. Moonlight dimly lit the quiet town of Amherst.

Before dinner, he had overheard his father talking again about how he's been nothing but bad luck. He's been unfairly blamed for all of the family's misfortunes so far, so it came as no surprise to him that he was blamed for what happened to the apples too. He expected everything, but it didn't make it any less painful.

_I'm tired of this_, he thought to himself. _I'm tired of this damn place._ He took out his geography textbook, flipped through the pages and stopped at a map of Victoria Island. His eyes wondered around the map and stopped at Henesys, the place his real parents told him stories about when he was just a little boy. He had heard Athena, the legendary archer of the Maple world, still resided there, and had always dreamt of becoming her student.

He closed the book of maps and threw it into his backpack, along with a case containing a fruit knife and a few snack bars. It was twelve in the morning, so he quietly crept out of his room and down the stairs. The last thing he wanted to do was wake anyone up. He unlocked the wooden front door and opened it slowly.

"Hey." Rain, who was leaning against the fence just outside of the house, gave him a quick wave. Felix's heart almost skipped a beat at the sound of her voice.

"How did you-"

"This isn't the first time." Her delicate hands brushed the strands of brown hair hanging in front of her face to one side. "But it will probably be the last. When I saw your face at the dinner table tonight, it seemed like you were at your limit."

"It's not like he's going to miss me."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that. He's probably going to say something like _good riddance_ when he finds out_._" It was the truth, and he knew it all along, but it still hurt to hear it. "…but you know what? I'm going to miss you a lot."

She walked over to him and embraced him. Her warmth resonated through his body.

"I'm going to miss you too."

They withdrew from the hug, and she took a leather pouch out of her pocket. "It's not a lot of mesos, so use it wisely. Oh, and there's also a safety luck charm in there."

"Thank you for everything, Rain." He caught the pouch and slipped it into his bag. "Take care."

"You too."

After a wave good-bye, Felix headed east and faded into the darkness of the night.

* * *

**A/N:** I've been wanting to write this for the longest time. I never imagined it would be done in front of my laptop in the middle of the night on my family vacation though. I guess it's a good thing that I tend to have insomnia when I'm on the other side of the world, and that I get bored easily. Otherwise, who knows how long it would have taken to finally put these ideas into words.

Anyway, I have no clue how long this story's going to be. I also can't promise a monthly or even a bi-monthly update. I don't have any idea of where this is going to go (okay, that's a lie - I have one cliche idea in mind, with the Black Mage being the main villain), so I'll only be updating when I feel creative enough to conceive an interesting read. Hope you enjoy the story. :)


	2. Where the Winds of a New Beginning Blow

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MapleStory.

**Where the Winds of a New Beginning Blow**

"What's your name, and where did you come from?"

"I'm Felix King, from Amherst."

"And why do you desire to be an archer, Felix?"

"I want the power to protect the people I care about."

"And you wish to prove your worth too, am I right?" Her gentle green eyes narrowed. Avoiding eye contact, he nodded reluctantly. "Don't be so worried. I can see that you have nothing but good intentions. If you want to prove yourself, you've come to the right place." She lifted Felix's right arm up with her left, and pressed her right index and middle finger firmly against the back of his hand. Felix could feel a mild burning sensation as the red bulls-eye shaped mark etched onto his hand.

"So… that's it?"

"Yes. Were you expecting a fancy light show?" Athena chuckled and gracefully danced to her desk at the back of the room. "Anyway, I have given you the basic knowledge of the archer class. You should now know everything you need to, to begin practicing." She dug out a basic bow and a quiver filled with arrows and brought it back to the boy. "These are the weapons you'll start with. They're not amazing, but they'll suffice for training purposes." Felix accepted the bow and arrow and followed her through a door on the left-hand side of the room. "And this room is where the quest board for archers is located. We get quests from dozens of citizens from Henesys and nearby towns on a regular basis, and they're all ranked according to difficulty."

"That's convenient." Felix walked around the room and stopped in front of a giant letter "D" painted in green on the wooden wall. Below it was a piece of white paper with a hand-written list of quests, some of which have been crossed out. "I'm guessing the D-ranked jobs are for beginners like me."

"Indeed." Athena walked over, scanned the list, and pointed to one line. "Utah is apparently looking for someone to watch over her pigs at the farm. Last I checked, she also had some dummies there for target practice. Interested?" Felix nodded. "Alright, it's settled then. Her farm is just east of here. Good luck."

Felix exited the archer headquarters of Henesys wearing his quiver and clutching his blue bow. He turned to the east and saw a lady with a silver staff approaching him. She adjusted the giant witch-like hat on her head, revealing a set of captivating red eyes.

"Hey you, hold still." She extended her arm and pointed her weapon at Felix. Her staff glowed, and a green aura shrouded him. The aura diminished as quickly as it came, and left Felix feeling refreshed and energized. "There, do you feel all better now?"

"I do... thanks."

"Don't mention it. This is what clerics do." She gave him a dorky thumbs up. "Anyway, take care of yourself now."

Felix watched her teleport away and began making his way to the farm.


	3. Utah

**Utah**

"Are you sure they're safe?" Felix was leaning back on his chair, gazing at the pink creatures through the window. Utah walked over to him and poured a stream of steaming Jasmine tea into his ceramic cup. "Oh, thank you."

"As usual, you newbies only seem to have work on your minds." A gentle smile hung on her wrinkled face, contradicting the tint of melancholy glistening in her eyes. "There haven't been any wild monsters around here for the last two or three decades. Relax a little and enjoy some tea with me."

Felix took a sip of the soul-soothing drink. It was hotter than he preferred, and he wasn't a huge fan of tea anyway. Still, he feigned a smile of satisfaction. "This tea is amazing."

"Well... I don't know about amazing, but it is my favourite. I'm glad you like it." She looked to her left and picked up a newspaper from the seat beside her. "So you're a new adventurer, right?"

"Mhmm."

"Then this might interest you." She passed the newspaper to him and pointed to the short article on the bottom of the front page. Felix immediately immersed himself into the text.

"So the Legends guild is being revived?"

"Have you heard of them?"

"Yes. My parents told me they were led by the heroes who killed the Black Mage a few decades ago."

"That's right. About fifty years ago, Mercedes, Aran, Phantom, Luminous, and Evan created Legends. They spearheaded the initiative to destroy the Black Mage once and for all, and disbanded shortly after claiming victory."

"So why the sudden revival?"

"Well, according to recent rumours, an unofficial guild that's dabbling with black magic is lurking about. The job instructors have given a few official warnings already, but they were all ignored. I suppose the descendants of the five heroes have decided to put a quick end to this matter, to alleviate public fear."

Felix furrowed his brows at the beginning of the second paragraph in the article. "Public demonstration… a friendly against the Gucci guild… evening of the seventh of Sept – wait a minute, what's today's date?"

"The seventh of September. Do you feel like accompanying this old lady to the friendly?"

"I'd love to."


	4. To Kerning City

**To Kerning City**

Athena peeked through a gap in the ton of documents piled on her desk, and saw Felix in front of the entrance. "What, no knock?" Felix frowned, shut the door again, and knocked once before coming back in.

"Was that better?"

"I was just teasing you," Athena sighed. "No one understands me…"

Felix pulled a sheet on paper out of his bag and dropped on top of the mountain of paper that was already on the archer instructor's desk. "Utah told me to give this to you." She grumbled.

"You know, I was just thinking about how I didn't have enough paperwork." She shot up from her chair and briefly glanced at the quest completion form Felix submitted. "Typical Utah. So, what do you think about Legends and Gucci?"

"Oh, so you know."

"I guess you can say I have sharp eyes."

Felix looked up, trying to recall what he had seen. "I guess… it was kind of boring… Gucci was destroyed really fast. And I don't really like Legends. They're too cocky."

Athena nodded. "They're a pompous bunch indeed. Anyway, I know you're here for your next mission as well, and I have the perfect one for you." She tied up her light olive green hair and stretched her stiffened arms before leading him back in to the familiar quest board room.

"Rank C this time?"

"Hah! And you complained about Legends being cocky?" She walked over to the list of Rank D quests and crossed out a quest near the bottom of the list. "Shumi lost her favourite coin near Kerning City. The monsters around there aren't really strong, but she insists on having an archer for an escort. She will be beside the Kerning City subway station this afternoon at five."

"Kerning City? Where's that?" Athena took out a bundle of mesos and whipped it at Felix. "Ouch…"

"Shumi covered your taxi ride to there and back. Thank her when you get there." As Felix made his way back out, a sudden realization struck her. "Wait."

"Yes?"

"I don't think I've seen you smile before." Felix feigned a cheeky grin and left. "Feh. What a depressing kid." She said it loud enough for him to catch from the main room and expected to hear him retort with something along the lines of 'I heard that'. Instead, what she got was the fading sound of footsteps, followed by the sound of the entrance door slamming shut.

Felix looked around for a taxi, but instead, he found the cleric who healed him last time healing another stranger in the distance. Her massive witch hat was white this time, making her scarlet eyes sparkle even brighter. Afraid that she would notice him admiring, he began walking the other way.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Let's write something thoughtful in here while eating lunch~

The brief introduction is done, and the rest of the Maple World will unfold itself bit by bit. There will certainly be an overarching plot, which will also reveal itself as Felix explores the Maple World. Feel free to review, and look forward to future updates!


	5. More than Meets the Eye

**More than Meets the Eye**

"There is no lost coin," said the golden-haired girl.

"Oh great, so I was lied to _again_."

"You must be new here." Felix looked away, slightly ashamed. "Well, don't start biting the hands that feed you, Felix." She passed the rolled up poster to him and he unrolled it, revealing an image of four talisman papers - one purple, one red, one blue, and one green. "Several days ago, hundreds of these were stuck all over Kerning City. Every year around this time, the infamous Band of Thieves pulls a big prank, so this is most likely their doing. The Dark Lord confirmed that the talismans are harmless and gave regular adventurers permission to hunt them down." Felix raised one hand into the air and opened his mouth like he was about to ask a question, but Shumi ignored him and continued. "The purple talismans can only be destroyed by thief skills, the red ones are for warriors, the blue ones are for mages, and the green ones are for elves."

"You mean archers."

"That's what I said. Not many archers live in Kerning, so we required some outside assistance for the green talismans. We're in the process of making similar requests for other classes." Shumi pointed to the stairs leading into the subway station. "I know there's a lot of talismans up here, but you're going to start down there. Work your way up, if you know what I mean."

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"No. I have a little investigation of my own to conduct. I'll be just east if the city of you need me. Good luck!" And with that, she put her red cap back on and jumped away.

Felix walked down the steps, flashed his bulls-eye mark to the ticket usher, and passed through the gates. Down another set of stairs was a massive train tunnel, stretching what looked like a good kilometre. To his left and his right was a drop in elevation and a set of train tracks. The dim and flickering fluorescent tubes hanging above combined with the dark tunnel walls and the faded green floor and columns made the place more eerie than he had anticipated. Just like Shumi said, there were talismans stuck all over the place here too.

With his beginner's bow ready, he locked on to a green talisman on a column just in front of him, released the string, and watched as the arrow cut through the air. The arrowhead pierced the edge of the talisman and almost instantly the paper transformed into a cluster of green light particles that floated upwards and faded away. Felix pulled the arrow out and found that the arrowhead was completely deformed and unusable. His quiver had a few dozen arrows left, which wasn't enough to clean up the entire subway station. Still, he continued walking down the long path, eliminating every green sheet that crossed his sight.

Eventually, Felix approached the midpoint of the subway station. There, he noticed a staircase leading up and two ominous figures sitting on the stairs and conversing. Before he knew it, one of the figures crept up beside him and tapped his shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing, little boy?" Felix turned around and stared into her red goggles. Her voice was normal and friendly, but the same couldn't be said about her costume. A black fedora covered everything above her goggles, and a black cloak covered everything below her neck to her shoes. "Were you shooting at those talismans?"

"Yeah... it's a mission."

"Well, consider it cancelled," said the other voice from the staircase. "Whoever you report to, tell them to leave this place and these talismans alone."

"Why? I'm just cleaning up the mess of a bunch of idiots who think their prank is funny."

The owner of the other voice revealed himself. Same hat, same cloak, same goggles, and even roughly the same height. The only difference was the gender. "So you're one of Athena's little cubs. Who told you that _we_ did this? That new joke of a Dark Lord?" Afraid to sell Shumi out, Felix looked away silently. "We are, like our name implies, thieves at heart. We don't practice that black magic crap. Toona, see him out."

"Yes sir." Ignoring Felix's protesting, the tall woman lifted him up and ran him out the way he came in. Once outside, Toona's arms weakened and Felix dropped onto the brown brick floor. Before he had a chance to get angry about it though, he noticed it too.

Kerning City, which was bustling with activity and decorated with coloured talismans when he had arrived, was now silent and empty, and there wasn't a single talisman in sight.

* * *

**Author's Note**: I was a bit lazy with the end, so I modified it slightly to make it sound better. Feel free to leave a review!


End file.
